The New Boy
by TheMaskedArtist
Summary: Chihiro, 16, has been going back to the entrance of the old theme park every day since she left. But now she's moving. Again. After a few weeks, she starts to get used to this new place. What happens when a new transfer student reminds her of someone?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Chihiro stood at the entrance of the old, abandoned theme park. The tunnel inside was pitch black, even though it was sunny outside. She remembered the day Haku, the river spirit, had told her to not look back until she reached the other side of the tunnel. He said they would see each other again. But she had been looking back for six years now and she hadn't seen him since. And this was the last time she would be able too look back for a long time. Her family was moving again. She was sixteen years old now and in high school. Chihiro had been coming down the hill from her house everyday just to stare at the black tunnel. And everyday, for six years, she had not seen Haku. Not once. She'd stay for an hour or so after school before going home, or come down on the weekends. All she wanted to do was travel through the tunnel. But Haku would not want her to. He didn't want her to get caught up in that mess again.

"Chihiro!" her father called from the car. "We have to go!" She nodded and took a deep breath. It was really time to leave this all behind.

"Goodbye." She sighed and ran back to her parents' car. Chihiro hopped in the back seat.

"I'm surprised you remember this place," her father said to her. "It's been six years since we were here." He, obviously, didn't know that she had been coming here every single day. She shrugged. Her father backed the car out of the long dirt road and they were off, on another adventure. She grabbed her old school bag, with her old high school's emblem embroidered on it. It was filled with her favorite snack. Her mother had made sure that Chihiro had plenty of it for the two hour drive. Pocky. How could she live without it? She opened a box of it and stuck a stick in her mouth. Then, she took out her CD player and started listening to her favorite songs. Her eyelids started to get heavy. She had stayed up all night, packing, very slowly. She was very reluctant to leave. After eating a full box of Pocky, Chihiro finally fell asleep in her seat.

"Sweetie?" Chihiro's mother said. She put her hand on her daughter's knee and shook it. "Chihiro?" The teenager opened her eyes. The sun was bright, so she squinted.

"What?" she asked, not wanting to wake up yet.

"We're at our new house." Chihiro opened her eyes all the way. Already? She sat up in her seat and looked out the front windshield. The house had one-story. It was light-gray with a black tiled roof. It was cute, but she already really missed her old house. The one close to the theme park. She sighed and opened the car door. When she was standing on her feet, right outside the car, she looked down at her watch. It was almost five. The sun would be setting soon, and the spirits back at the old park would be waking up. Kamaji would be lighting the boilers soon, and the bath house would be in business for the day. Suddenly, Chihiro's heart felt heavy, and she felt like she would cry. Before she started getting all teary-eyed, she forced it out of her system. She was going to start new here. She couldn't go to the theme park anymore. She wouldn't let that bother her. Would she be able to live like that? The spirits were her best friends. Of course, she had real friends, but none off them would ever live up to the ones she met at the bath house.

"Come on, honey. Let's get settled in to our new house," her father said. Chihiro reached back into the car and pulled her bag out. She slung it over her shoulder and slowly followed her parents into the house. The house looked better on the outside than it did on the inside. The room that happened to be Chihiro's was ghastly. Her parents promised to paint it the next week. The few boxes that belonged to her would sit in the front room until it was cleaned and painted.

"It's not that bad," her mother said, trying to cheer her daughter up. A little while later, the family left the movers with the boxes and went out to the closest restaurant. Chihiro wasn't very hungry. So, she didn't eat much. The movers were gone by the time they got back to the house. It was only around seven o'clock, so they decided to start unpacking. Chihiro got stuck unpacking the linen and towels, since there was no point in doing her room. Around ten, they decided to go to bed. Chihiro's mother gave her a comforter and set up the couch in the front room for her daughter. When the young girl was lying down, her mother sat on the edge of the couch. "Is anything wrong, honey?"

"No, I'm just kind of sad about leaving my friends behind," she answered. The older woman nodded.

"That's quite understandable. But, I'll tell you what," she said. "Tomorrow, we're going to pick up your uniform at the school and then we'll go pick out a color for your room. Would you like that?" Chihiro gave a slight nod. "Alright, goodnight."

"Goodnight, mom," Chihiro said. Her mother stood up, turned off the light, and left her daughter there, alone. She closed her eyes and went to sleep. The only thing she dreamed about was Haku, and Lin.

Back at the old theme park, the bath house was full of customers. Haku had quit his job as Yubaba's apprentice. He had struck a bargain with the old witch. He would stay and work until he had enough money to leave this place and live on his own. The problem was Yubaba paid her workers poorly. It would take forever to earn enough money. He would fly to see Zeniba every once in a while to see how she was doing. She had warmed up to him after Chihiro had apologized for him. And he liked to visit her. She was kind to him, unlike her twin sister. They talked about Chihiro a lot. Zeniba had told Haku to take care of her, so he watched over her from a distance. He would watch her walk to school in the morning, from the sky. He watched her in the darkness of the tunnel as she stood and stared in, just after school. He knew she couldn't see her. But he wanted her to. It just wasn't possible. She lived in the real world and he was just a spirit. But he knew she missed him and the others, dearly.

Today was different though. He wouldn't be able to watch her from the tunnel. He stood there today as Chihiro said goodbye to him. She said goodbye everyday. But Haku felt that today was a final goodbye. He didn't want that. He was scared that he would never see her again. She was earlier than ever that afternoon. Usually, on the weekends, she would come around three or four o'clock. But, today, she came around one. Haku had been there, though. He waited for her whenever he could. When she stared into the dark tunnel and said her last words, it was as if she knew that he was there, although he knew she didn't. It was as if she was staring right at him.

"Haku?"

Haku was pulled out of his thoughts by a familiar voice. He looked up and next to him. Lin stood there, looking at him. She was holding a small wooden tub with cleaning materials in it. She was probably going to go clean one of the tubs.

"What is it, Lin?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said. "I was just wondering what you were standing in the middle of the hallway for." He shrugged.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "Let's just get back to work." Lin nodded and went off in her own direction. Haku watched her, then went off on his own.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

In the next two weeks, Chihiro started to warm up to the new town's school. This high school was behind compared to her old school, so she just flew through her school work. She had met the students, but really hadn't made any new friends. She sat with a few girls during lunch and they talked, but it wasn't anything serious. They didn't exchange phone numbers, or hang out on the weekends or anything. Her father had painted her room the color that Chihiro and her mother had picked out. It was a light pink color. She had tried to start new at this new place. She tired not to focus on the bath house as much and spend more time with her family. They had enjoyed themselves, and Chihiro wasn't as sad that she had left anymore. Maybe this move wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. If anything, she had started to forget about everything.

"Chihiro!" a girl named Yuri called to her. "Come on!" Chihiro turned around to see her lunch mate waving to her.

"What?" she asked, walking over to the other girl.

"We're going to the local arcade and then grab a bite to eat. Would you like to come with us?" Yuri asked, with a smile on her face.

"Really? You're inviting me?" Chihiro asked, trying not to sound too overjoyed.

"Of course! You're our friend, aren't you?" She smiled.

"I didn't know you considered me your friend."

"Of course!" Yuri exclaimed. "We've been sitting at the same table for two weeks now! Come on, let's go!" Chihiro's new friend grabbed her hand and pulled her along, giggling. They caught up with the other girls and went to the arcade. They messed around and had fun for two hours. Not once did Chihiro think about Haku or the bath house. When Chihiro got home that night, her parents were sitting in the front family room, watching television.

"Welcome home, sweetheart," her mother said, kindly.

"Hi, mom. Sorry I'm home so late," her daughter said, quickly. "I made some new friends today and they invited me to go with them." The older woman nodded, understandably.

"Well, I'm glad that you've finally made some new friends, honey," Chihiro's father said. "But next time, why don't you call us?"

"I would've but, I didn't have any way to reach you," Chihiro replied, quickly. Her parents looked at each other and smiled.

"Well, your father and I have decided that you're old enough now," her mother said and held up a package. Chihiro smiled when she saw what is was.

"A cell phone!" she exclaimed. Her father nodded.

"Yes," he answered. "It's already been activated for you and everything." The teenager hugged both of her parents.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed and ran to her room. She hopped onto her bed and opened the box. Inside sat a pink covered flip phone with a white dragon dangling from the top. A white dragon. Haku's face flashed in her head, but was instantly gone. Before she did anything else, Chihiro added her new friends' phone numbers. After dinner, she did her homework while listening to music, and then went to bed.

Chihiro went out everyday with her new friends. Their names were Yuri, Asuza, Shiori, and an American girl named Madison. Life couldn't have gotten better. She had more friends than she'd ever had. The thoughts of the bath house weren't dragging her down, either. She and her parents also couldn't have had a better relationship. Nothing could go bad now. Everything was perfect. That was, only until a week to the day that she and the girls had first gone out together.

Over the next few weeks, Haku couldn't keep himself busy. During the day, everyone usually slept, exhausted from a night's work. He couldn't sleep. He didn't want to sleep. All her could think about was Chihiro. He realized this is how she must have felt, not being able to see him for six years and he didn't like it. Was she thinking about him now? Or had she started forgetting? Had she gotten new friends and forgotten about him and the bath house? He concluded that she couldn't have. She'd been coming to the tunnel every single day, unless she was sick, just waiting to see if he'd turn up. Zeniba had told Chihiro once that once you met someone, you never really forget them. Haku would go by that. He would have to. Even if Chihiro was having the time of her life at this new place, she couldn't ever forget this place. Or him. It wasn't possible. Instantly, he knew what he had to do.

"I think I'll go visit Zeniba," Haku told him and stood up. He walked over to the outside balcony, trying not to step on the frog spirits or the others that were in his room. He stood on the wooden railing and jumped off. Instantly, he was a dragon. He flew quickly. The speed was faster than usual. The thing he had decided to do, in his mind, was a thing that had to be dealt with quickly. The old witch would know what to do. She could teach him what to do. Ever since Chihiro had left, Zeniba had been teaching him bits of her magic as long as he promised not to steal her secrets, like he tried to before.

When Haku arrived at the house, he turned back into his human form. He heard a faint squeaking noise and looked up. The lamp sitting on the arch outside of Zeniba's house was waving at him, greeting him. Haku smiled, waved back and walked under the arch. He walked up to the door and held up his hand to knock. Before he could, the door opened. The No-Face spirit was standing there, holding the door. Since he couldn't talk, he made his usual 'glad to see you' noise.

"I'm glad to see you too, No-Face," Haku said, still smiling. "Might I come in? I have to ask Zeniba something." Instantly, the spirit was out of his way. He walked into the house and found Zeniba standing over the stove.

"Welcome, Haku. It's nice to see you," the old witch said, without looking up at him.

"Sorry to bother you at this early hour," he said. "But I need your help."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Chihiro walked into her homeroom classroom. There was only a few minutes before the bell rang. The teacher sat at her desk completing some paperwork. She looked up when she saw her student walk into the room.

"Ah, Chihiro," she said, standing up. "We have a new student in our class. He transferred here today and since you were so ahead at your old school, I was wondering if you could help him get settled." Chihiro heard some noises coming from the side of the room by the window. All the girls and some of the boys crowded around the new kid's desk, asking him questions and stuff. She couldn't get a good look at him yet. Her friend, Yuri, stood in the way. She could see that Yuri's mouth was constantly moving, not giving the new kid any time to respond.

"Uh, what's his name?" Chihiro asked her teacher, looking away from the group. The teacher looked down at a paper sitting on her desk.

"Nobu Kobayashi," she replied. The younger girl nodded, agreeing to get him settled. Conveniently, his seat was next to hers, so she could talk to him without disrupting today's lesson. She started to her seat so she could put her bag down. Yuri broke away from the group around this 'Nobu' kid and joined her friend.

"This new boy is really cute, Chihiro!" she exclaimed as Chihiro put her stuff on her desk. "Come on! I'll introduce you!" Yuri grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the desk next to hers. The crowd had started to dissipate and they could see him in plain view. He was smiling, talking to another boy who was standing in front of him. Chihiro froze as soon as she saw his face. _It can't be!_

"Haku?" she said, out loud. The new boy stopped talking and looked at Chihiro. _It looks exactly like him!_ The face was exactly the same as her old friend's. His hair color, black, was the only thing that was different, except that he was taller than she remembered. Yuri looked at her friend.

"Who's Haku?" she asked, confused. Before the other girl could answer, Yuri started talking again. "Chihiro, this is Nobu. Nobu, Chihiro." Nobu nodded towards Chihiro.

"Hello, Chihiro. It's nice to meet you," he said, giving off a charming smile and extending him hand. The girl still stood there, dumbstruck. That couldn't be Haku. There was no way it could be him. Suddenly, all the memories started to flood back into her head. Memories she was trying to get away from. She was supposed to start new here!

"Chihiro?" Yuri asked, shaking her friend's arm. Instantly, she snapped out of her trance.

"Sorry," she said. "Pleased to meet you, Nobu." Chihiro extended her hand and shook his. Before they could say anything else, the late bell rang in the classroom.

"Alright, class! In your seats!" the teacher called. Yuri wandered away and sat in her seat. Chihiro did the same. As the class got under way, Chihiro kept staring at the new boy. He noticed it early on, but didn't pay any attention until the middle of class.

"Is there something you want, Chihiro?" he asked her. She blinked and shook her head quickly. "Well, in that case, could you help me? I mean, you don't seem to be doing anything else." She looked around the classroom. The rest of the class was doing their quiet work. She stood up, dragged her chair to the side of his desk, and sat down.

"What is it that you need help with?" Chihiro asked him, trying not to think about Haku again. He showed her his paper. She looked over it and made faces. "This is all wrong!" she exclaimed. "Don't you know what you're doing?" Nobu shrugged, indicating that he had no idea. She sighed. "Alright, this is how it goes." She picked up his pencil and wrote down the steps for him.

"I'm sorry, Chihiro. I'm not so good at math," he concluded about himself. She nodded.

"I can tell." When she was done, she put his pencil down and gave him his paper back. "There. That should help you. If you need anything else, just ask."

"Thank you, Chihiro."

"Why do you keep adding my name to every sentence?" she asked him, curiously.

"It's just been so-," he started, but stopped himself before he said it. That was close. He'd have to watch himself now. He wasn't allowed to reveal himself to her. At least, not yet. He could tell that she was getting suspicious.

"It's been so, what?" she asked. He hesitated. 'Nobu' had no idea what to say. He knew what he wanted to say, but he wasn't allowed. If he did, the spell would break.

"Uh, nothing," he said. She frowned even more, not pleased with his answer.

"Are you sure you're not Haku?" He broke out into a sweat. She was really suspicious of him. He didn't know how long he'd be able to keep this up. All he wanted to do was see her, watch over her. But if she found out it was him, it would be all over for him. He'd have to return to that wretched place. He could always try again, but she would know and it wouldn't work.

"Who is this Haku you keep speaking of?" he asked her, trying not to show his nervousness. She glared at him for a few minutes.

"Don't worry about it," she said, finally. Chihiro picked up her chair and went back to her own desk to gather her stuff for the next class. The bell rang shortly afterwards.

"Whatever you didn't finish in class, finish for homework!" the teacher yelled as students started to leave the classroom. Before another word was uttered between Nobu and Chihiro, she was out of the room, with Yuri in tow.

"What are you in such a hurry for, girl?" Yuri asked her friend. Chihiro slowed down and let out a long held in breath. Before she could answer, though, Madison and the other two girls joined them. Yuri seemed to forget her question when she started to tell their other three friends about this new boy. Chihiro was relieved. She didn't want to talk about it now. She tried not to listen as she walked to her next class with the other four girls.

Nobu leaned back in his chair for a moment before getting ready for him next class. That was a close one. Maybe he should've changed his looks more than he had. But he was sure that everyone had a twin out there. Maybe he could still fool Chihiro into thinking that it wasn't really him. But how?

"Mr Kobayashi?" the teacher asked, walking up to him. He looked up at her. "You only have a few minutes to get to your next class, so I suggest you go. You don't want to set a bad impression on your very first day." 'Nobu' nodded, quickly packed his things, and left the room.


End file.
